Civil Servants: Codes of Practice

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  when he plans to respond to the letter sent to his Permanent Secretary from the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham of 21 January 2013 regarding the investigation of defamatory remarks made against the hon. Member attributed to senior sources within his Department;
	(2)  what steps he has taken since 23 January 2013 to guard against breaches of the Civil Service Code regarding personal comments and briefings against individuals;
	(3)  if he will publish all internal communications to staff of his Department regarding breaches of the Civil Service Code following comments attributed to senior Department for Education sources on the Spectator Coffee House blog on 17 January 2013;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the comment on the Spectator blog on 17 January 2013 attributed to senior Department for Education sources regarding the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 February 2013
	The Permanent Secretary wrote to the hon. Member on this matter on 13 February. A copy of this letter is as follows:
	Letter from Chris Wormald, dated 13 February 2013
	Thank you for your letter dated 22 January about comments reported on 17 January in the Spectator blog from a "senior Department for Education source."
	Firstly, I would like to reiterate what the Secretary of State and I said to the Select Committee on the 23 January - that it is wrong that this briefing took place, and that if it did come from an employee of the Department, that would be unacceptable. Secondly, I would reiterate the fact that the Secretary of State was very clear that he did not recognise the picture that the comments painted of you as a Minister, and indeed, that his experience of working with you was quite the opposite.
	Both the Secretary of State and I have considered this issue and made appropriate enquiries to ascertain whether the quotes came from the Department, and, if so, who might have been responsible. On the basis of those enquiries, we have not been able to identify an individual responsible, and have concluded that there is no realistic prospect of doing so. We will not be able to progress this matter further unless the Spectator is prepared to name its sources.